The Sonoma State University Department of Theatre Arts & Dance has announced its 2014-2015 performance season showcasing the emerging talents of SSU students studying theater arts, dance and music. SSU's Department of Theatre Arts & Dance has planned a wild, rebel-filled and wickedly funny season that begins in the Deep South and travels to India, Russia and around the globe through drama, comedy, opera and dance. For its annual performance season, the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance offers special events, several free K-12 Student Matinees, SSU "Faculty & Staff Night" and alumni performances. Sonoma State University students are admitted free to all productions. For tickets or more information call the box office at 707-664-4246 or email tickets@sonoma.edu.

SSU Department of Theatre Arts & Dance 2014-2015 Season:

The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek"
Oct. 16 to Oct. 25, 201Studio 76, Ives Hall
By Naomi Wallace / Directed by Ken Sonkin Ken Sonkin directs this dark, coming-of-age story, as two young lovers seek adventure and escape by racing trains through a Depression-ravaged town in the 1930s. As the tragedy unfolds, Wallace provides an unsentimental and uncensored gaze into the lives and struggles of the working class.

"The Importance of Being Earnest"
Oct. 30 to Nov. 9, 2014Evert B. Person Theatre
By Oscar Wilde / Directed by Judy Navas Perhaps the most perfectly funny play ever written, Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" travels to colonial India. Judy Navas directs this brilliantly witty satire that follows two eligible British bachelors as they court two young women - each determined to marry a man named Earnest. Wilde's classic play skewers the British upper classes and their traditions of love, marriage and social conformity.

"Heroines"
Feb. 5 to Feb.15, 2015
Evert B. Person Theatre
Music Direction by Lynne Morrow
Adaptation & Stage Direction by Jane Hammett In a strange, otherworldly landscape, women from different times and places find themselves wrestling with life in "Heroines," a dynamic, new musical revue co-produced by Departments of Music and Theatre Arts & Dance. Drawing from Gilbert & Sullivan, "The Merry Widow" and "The Threepenny Opera," directors Lynne Morrow and Jane Hammett gather the most soaring, inspiring and hilarious numbers from the history of operetta in this one-of-kind production, focusing on an explosive period of musical history at the turn of the 20th century.

"Orchard Development"
April 26 to April 25, 2015
Evert B. Person Theatre
Directed by Paul Draper
Choreography by Kristen Daley "Orchard Development" tells the story of impoverished Russian aristocrats who return to their country estate, oblivious that it may soon be lost to foreclosure. Anton Chekhov's darkly funny masterpiece "The Cherry Orchard" gets a massive remix in this contemporary deconstruction, exploring text and character through acting, dance, music, technology and design. "Orchard Development" will be directed by Paul Draper, with choreography by Kristen Daley and original music from Jesse Olsen Bay.